Senior officials of the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) have substantially raised their salaries without obtaining the mandatory approval from the federal cabinet, sources revealed.
This decision comes amid severe technical, commercial, and distribution losses in the power sector.
As per regulations, the chairperson and members of regulatory bodies are entitled to a maximum Management Position (MP) scale I, with a basic salary ranging between Rs629,000 and Rs772,780 per month. Additional benefits, including Rs146,000 to Rs206,000 for housing and Rs35,000 for utilities, bring their total monthly earnings to between Rs800,000 and Rs1 million.
Salaries Increased by Up to Four Times in Violation of Regulations
Nepra officials have reportedly tripled their salaries, raising the chairperson’s gross monthly pay to approximately Rs3.25 million, while other officials are now earning around Rs2.95 million.
Despite repeated inquiries regarding the salary revisions and whether the government’s consent was sought, Nepra has not provided any response.
The revised pay structure includes a basic salary of Rs700,000 to Rs773,000, along with a newly introduced ‘regulatory allowance’ ranging from Rs631,000 to Rs700,000, modeled after the judicial allowance for judges.
Furthermore, officials have secured multiple ad hoc relief payments, including:
- 2024: Rs587,000 to Rs650,000
- 2023: Rs544,000 to Rs600,000
- 2022: Rs105,150 to Rs116,000
- 2021: Rs70,000 to Rs77,300
Additional benefits include a housing allowance of Rs176,000 to Rs206,000, car monetization of Rs96,000, and a utility allowance of Rs32,000 to Rs35,000. With these increments, their total compensation now surpasses that of superior court judges.
Legal Requirements for Salary Approval
Under Section 8 of the Nepra Act, 1997, any changes to the salaries and allowances of Nepra’s chairperson and members must receive federal government approval. The law states:
“The Chairman and Members of the Authority shall be eligible for such remuneration and allowances as the Authority may, with the approval of the Federal Government, determine.”
However, sources indicate that these salary revisions were made without obtaining the necessary approval.
The Nepra Act also specifies that the remuneration should reflect the “specialized nature of work” and align with competitive salaries in the private sector.
Most Nepra members, including the chairperson and representatives from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, are retired bureaucrats. Their last drawn salaries as government officials ranged between Rs600,000 and Rs700,000.
Following this revision, the gross salaries of Nepra’s chairperson and four members have increased to more than four times their previous government pay.
According to sources, a Nepra official convinced the current leadership that they could authorize salary hikes without government approval.
This unilateral pay raise has led to disparities within regulatory bodies, as Nepra officials are now earning significantly more than their counterparts in other organizations, who continue to receive salaries under the MP scale set by the Ministry of Finance.
The only exception is the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) chairperson, whose salary falls under the special professional pay scale, with total compensation ranging between Rs1.5 million and Rs2 million.
